September Faves 2016

I’m not normally one for a monthly or weekly faves list, but you know when you have things in your life that you want to tell people about but they don’t warrant full blog posts? Well this is my round-up of those things. The little things that are making me happy right now.

1) Bullet Journals.

I love to jump on a fad, but this one I think is for keeps. Bullet Journalling is just a way of organising your life with a pretty notebook. You can use any notebook you like, you just have to follow the system for looking at your life in daily notes, monthly agendas and yearly overviews, in order to achieve goals and document your everyday life. I really like it.

I opted to create my Bullet Journal in this neat ‘Feminist’ journal. Firstly because it’s pretty in pink and gold, secondly because it has an assortment of plain and lines pages which is fab for Bullet Journals, and thirdly because I’m obvs a feminist and love the sporadic pages of female empowerment quotes inside. Hashtag girl power.

Seriously I’m not only more organised because of my Bullet Journal but I also really enjoy making it pretty with stickers and washi tape. I finally have a reason to buy those things now. Hello Hobbycraft, how I’ve missed you.

2) Grilled Cheese.

As you know my obsession with cheese is extreme. And grilled toasties are my own personal heaven. Although when it’s hot out I feel like I dial down on cheese toasties, only making them now and then and a standard cheddar, mushroom and basil one (that’s my go-to). But now it’s getting a lil colder and those Autumn vibes are a flowing, I’m jumping back onto the cheese toastie train!

The Grilled Cheese Kitchen is my new fave cookbook and I’m psyched to get cracking with a lot of these recipes! There’s also soup and mac and cheese recipes in here so it’s basically Autumn comfort food in one book. I’m particularly keen to mix it up with a mac and cheese toastie. Yep, you heard me. Don’t remind me I have to be in a bikini in Australia in November, k?

3) Blogosphere Magazine.

Soooo I totally made my print debut in Blogosphere Magazine this month! The publication written by bloggers for bloggers highlights 5 travel bloggers each issue and in Issue 10 I made the cut! They featured my hostel review of Met A Space Pod Hostel in Singapore, which granted isn’t my most insightful or articulate post but I’m actually really quite proud to see my name in print! Let’s hope it’s a sign of things to come.

4) L’Oreal Red Carpet Travel Exclusive.

When I’m at the airport I like to treat myself. You know, a Benefit bronzer here, a Zara top there, nothing that’s going to massively break the bank but something that’s a treat nonetheless. But when I went to Geneva last month with my mum, she treated me instead! Benefits of travelling with your mother, folks.

I needed a new mascara and decided to get this ‘Red Carpet’ set that had one of those double-ended mascaras in it – the False Lash Superstar. And it’s real good. I feel like double-ended mascara are kind of out of fashion now, they’re not as big as there were a few years back, but they really work for me. Big beautiful lashes – check.

It also came with a smooth L’Oreal lipstick in a gorgeous shade of red, a matching nail varnish and a pretty red pouch to supposedly put it in. But I’m definitely going to use it to pack jewellery and hair bits when I travel. I’m officially a duty-free make-up set convert and will be eyeing more of these babes on my next airport visit.

5) Gilmore Girls.

I bloody love Gilmore Girls, it’s one of my all-time faves. It’s family-friendly fun and childhood nostalgia and I’m gutted they don’t play it everyday on E4 like they used to. If you never got into it, you owe it to yourself to give it a try.

And hooray, they’re creating more episodes! ‘Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life’ is 4 new extra-long episodes that are coming to Netflix in November! I’m super excited about it. So much so that I’m currently re-watching every episode in preparation for it. I don’t even care that I’m a massive nerd right now.

6) Mango Cactus Skirt.

We’re in that weird transitional season where you need to have clothes that work in both warm weather and cold weather. I picked this gorge Mango skirt up in Switzerland with a cool cactus print and it’s totally perfect. I can wear it with a t-shirt and sandals in September days when it feels more like an Indian Summer, or with tights, boots and a black roll-neck for September days when it’s clear winter is coming. Basically September is hard work in the UK and you have to be prepped for all seasons.

But also, cacti are super cute.

7) MK Bloggers.

When you have a hobby it’s real nice to meet other people that share that hobby. I love blogging but it’s not something I can really talk about in detail with my pals. I mean, obvs they’re interested and ask about my blog but they’re not really going to get it when I start talking about the inner-workings of SEO or WordPress Plugins. The thing is, blogger meet-ups are usually in London. And I live about an hour outside of London in Milton Keynes.

Cue MK Bloggers.

My pal Sophie from Sophie’s Suitcase set up a new group for Milton Keynes bloggers and we had our first meet-up – brunch at a local pub, The Swan in Salford. We even got a goody bag full of treats from local businesses and are now planning the next event! Exciting stuff.

8) Fleetwood Mac – Rumours.

I’ve always loved Fleetwood Mac. I have really vivid memories of dancing to ‘Everywhere’ in the living room when I was about 7 whilst my mum polished the furniture. Well Rumours is one of my fave albums and Josh bought me the record recently. I can’t stop playing it. Especially now it’s getting a bit colder, I’m staying in on a Friday night listening to Rumours with a glass of wine and my faux-fire burning away. Pure bliss. Also, I sound like I’m forty. Don’t even care.

Anyway, they’re the things I’m really liking right now. Just saying.

What do you think of my September faves? Let me know in the comments below or tweet me @HeelsInBackpack!

Total Blogger Transparency: This post contains a couple of complimentary press samples, but all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own. I wouldn’t play you like that, shorty.